Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

A group of technology and healthcare companies recently said they have banded together to develop standards for secure Web transactions in the healthcare field. The 23 participants include Aetna, PlanetRx.com, the California Medical Association, Cisco Systems, Intel, MedicaLogic, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, VeriSign and Securify, among others.

The move follows growing concern about the privacy of medical records online. The Federal Trade Commission already has begun an inquiry into whether some Internet-based healthcare firms are improperly sharing personal information collected from visitors to their sites.

Cindy Dumond, a coding and billing specialist with Medical Billing Services in Jacksonville, Fla., which supports approximately 75 neurologists in the state, advocates the use of electronic billing for neurologists. Like many neurology coding experts, Dumond says that electronic filing of claims substantially speeds up the reimbursement process and makes the tracking of claims and payments easier for neurologists and insurance companies. Movement toward making such transactions safer and more secure should encourage more healthcare professionals to make the move to electronic billing.

The coalition, called the 11.19 Working Group, plans to create a model for online transactions that includes digital credentials for medical professionals. This will allow doctors, technicians, insurers, patients and other medical professionals to safely transmit information online.

11.19 operates as a forum for discussing the development and adoptions of technologies for securely transmitting healthcare data across the Internet, said Blackford Middleton, MD, an executive at MedicaLogic, an Internet company that supports services such as ambulatory medical records (EMR). Online healthcare sales are expected to reach $9.8 billion by 2004, up from $600 million this year, according to Jupiter Communications, an Internet research firm. The working group seeks to recruit other participants as well. We want to open 11.19 to any e-healthcare vendors or technology providers participating directly in the healthcare supply chain, says Taher Elgaml, president of Securify, a provider of comprehensive security services for conducting business transactions over the Internet.

The coalition introduced its first digital certificate policy at the annual conference of the Health Information Management and Systems Society on April 12. It plans to introduce a prototype at upcoming eHealthcare World conferences later this year.